Ensnared in my Reverie
by delinquent-romantic
Summary: There's a new mutant in town that kills people in their sleep. Emma and Jesse are in danger, they're slowly succumbing to death. Or will Adam find a way out?
1. Two More for the Night

Ensnared in my Reverie  
  
***There's a new mutant in town, and she has the intention of riding the world with mutants. She can be deadly and you won't even know it until you're already dead***  
  
Summary: Mutants have been dying and Adam is worried this might be some kind of epidemic. But he soon finds out how wrong he is, because all these appeared to have good health when they died. Adam is confused how this new mutant kills, and when he finds out exactly how, there is a price to pay. He must find a cure or he will loose two members.  
  
Read and review!!!  
  
Chapter 1 - Two more for the night  
  
Sheila Compton was tired. She had done it to almost three people, and she told herself it was enough. She couldn't wait to hear it on the news and have those ignorant idiots report that the cause of the death was still unknown. She realized, though, that it would probably be a while before the whole thing came out on the news.  
  
And then, they'd tie it in with the previous happenings. One plus one equals two. Their conclusion would be that there was some serial killer on the loose. Sheila stifled a laugh as she thought about the absurdity of it all. But it was absurd and fun.  
  
Of course, she'd do it again tomorrow. She always loved it when she did it. It gave her the most exhilarating feeling in the world. It was like she had the power. And the best part was no one really understood.  
  
After all, her victims just died. The autopsy would say that the person had been completely healthy. It was as if they had died in their sleep.  
  
Sheila laughed to herself. Some people were just so innocent.  
  
As she turned to leave the bar, she caught sight of a blonde and a brunette. She sensed they were mutants, and she smiled mischievously as she drank the last contents of her tequila. Two more for the night was fine. It didn't make any difference.  
  
She headed towards them, and as she approached, she heard the brunette girl say, "Jesse, I can't believe you said that about Shalimar!"  
  
"I'm telling you, it's true, Em," the blonde said laughing.  
  
Sheila raised her eyebrows. She sensed he was a molecular, but try as she might, she couldn't quite get the read on what kind of mutant the brunette girl was. She shrugged. What the hell, it didn't make any difference. Coming up with a plan, Sheila walked towards the blonde, Jesse, as he was called, and as she neared him she pretended to trip.  
  
"Whoa, easy," Jesse said as Sheila collided into him.  
  
"Oh, God, I'm so sorry," Sheila mumbled straightening herself. "I'm so sorry. This place is just so crowded," and then she laughed at herself, "Of course it's crowded. It's a club."  
  
Emma smiled.  
  
"Oh, I'm Sheila by the way," she said.  
  
"I'm Emma."  
  
"Jesse."  
  
Sheila smiled at both of them, then turning to Jesse, she said, "Listen, I feel really bad. Can I buy you a drink or something?"  
  
Jesse shook his head. "No, really. I'm fine, Sheila. No harm done."  
  
Sheila nodded, but then she caught sight of someone behind Jesse, and she inwardly cursed. She did not want to be swarmed with those GSA agents now. "Right, well if you're sure." she let the sentence hang looking at Jesse who only smiled, and said, "We're fine. But thanks for the offer."  
  
"Okay," Sheila said, and then she concentrated on her energy, "Well I have to go. It was nice meeting you," she added as she extended a hand out to Jesse.  
  
When Jesse clasped her hand, unbeknownst to him, Sheila had transferred her lethal weapon to him, by the touching of their flesh. She did the same to Emma. She was smiling when she said, "Pleasant dreams."  
  
And then she left, vanishing into the night. 


	2. A Shadow in the Dark

Ensnared in my Reverie  
  
***There's a new mutant in town, and she has the intention of riding the world with mutants. She can be deadly and you won't even know it until you're already dead***  
  
Summary: Mutants have been dying and Adam is worried this might be some kind of epidemic. But he soon finds out how wrong he is, because all these appeared to have good health when they died. Adam is confused how this new mutant kills, and when he finds out exactly how, there is a price to pay. He must find a cure or he will loose two members.  
  
Read and review!!!  
  
Chapter 2 - A Shadow in the Dark  
  
"Well she was strange," Jesse remarked after Sheila had left.  
  
Emma laughed. "I'm surprised you didn't flirt with her, Jesse."  
  
"I didn't have to," he replied grinning at her. "It was obvious she was flirting with me."  
  
"Oh, you are so arrogant," Emma exclaimed rolling her eyes.  
  
Jesse frowned at the table top, his brow furrowed. He glanced at Emma, and said, "It was weird, though. When she shook my hand, something burned, and," he paused and studied his hand as if looking for something, "I can't help but feel something's wrong."  
  
Emma shrugged. "Her hand did feel a little hot, but Jesse, so is this entire club!" she said in a way of explanation. "She probably was holding some hot mug or something. Just relax, we haven't had the chance to relax in a long time."  
  
"But we have to be careful, Em," Jesse argued, clenching and unclenching his fist. "I never knew anyone who shook hands with a person they had collided with."  
  
Emma merely waved her hand impatiently. Jesse's voice was drowned out by the music of the club. Later on, Shalimar and Brennan came back to the bar, complete out of breath, but they were both smiling. Realizing it was late, they all headed back to Sanctuary where Adam was deeply engrossed in something in the lab.  
  
"Hey, Adam," Brennan called.  
  
"What's up?" Shalimar asked.  
  
Adam looked up, worry all over his face. "Bad news. Looks like, three more mutants been found dead. And what's worse, the same report came in as before," he paused glancing at the computer screen, "All healthy, no sign of disease. They just came up dead."  
  
"What do you mean they just came up dead?" Emma asked.  
  
"Well, they just came up dead," Adam replied repeating what he had said. "There was no sign of any bacteria or foreign object in their body. Two of the bodies were found in a car, and the third was found in his own apartment, in his bed."  
  
Shalimar raised an eyebrow. "Sounds weird."  
  
"It gets more weird," Adam said sighing deeply. "The third mutant? He was living with a girlfriend. She had gone to work early in the morning and when she came back that night, Alex Cromwell, that's his name, was still sleeping on his bed. According to Nina, his girlfriend, he had been asleep for almost twenty hours."  
  
Jesse frowned. "He didn't wake up?"  
  
Adam shook his head. "Nina tried to wake Alex up but he just wouldn't. She called the hospital, they rushed him in, and after checking his vitals, they explained to Nina that he was only unconscious. But hours later, and even days, he still didn't wake up."  
  
"Maybe the girl slipped him some drug?" Brennan suggested.  
  
"That's why the doctor thought but when they asked Nina, she said no. And even after checking his blood, it was clear. No sign of anything," Adam explained. "It was like he was just asleep."  
  
"I don't get it," Emma began wrinkling her forehead. "How did this Alex die?"  
  
"After a few days the monitor went dead," Adam said. "They tried to bring him back but Alex was dead."  
  
"Just like that?" Emma asked incredulous.  
  
Adam nodded. "Just like that."  
  
"Is this some new mutant?" Shalimar asked.  
  
Adam looked at her. "It could be."  
  
"Of course, it's a mutant, Adam," Emma interjected crossing her arms over her chest. "There's one reason I could think of why these mutant died in their sleep. Of course, it's stupid that they died in their sleep unless they're old and ailing, but I think it's a mutant who has the power to trap someone in their state of unconscious."  
  
"That's right," Adam said nodding. "I'll look into the database. In the meantime, why don't you all get some rest? You've had enough for one day," he said smiling at them, in a fatherly way.  
  
"Sure dad," Jesse said jokingly.  
  
"Night Adam," Shalimar called.  
  
"Night," Adam called back.  
  
"Pleasant dreams," Emma added as an afterthought. She caught Jesse's eye and they both looked at each other. Something about the phrase seemed familiar.  
  
Emma shook her head. It was probably nothing. "Night," she mumbled to him, walking in her room and shutting the door behind her. She took a quick shower before she went to sleep.  
  
As she settled herself to sleep, her thoughts drifted to Sheila. It seemed strange and mysterious what Sheila had said. Could it be possible that she had somehow done something to her and Jesse?  
  
But everything about Sheila seemed normal. When Emma thought about the handshake, she told herself it was stupid to think that Sheila could have done something by that simple handshake, because Emma shook hands with a lot of people everyday.  
  
Sheila seemed innocent enough, was Emma's last thought as she fell asleep. In his room, Jesse too had fallen asleep. But he didn't worry about Sheila, he merely fell on his bed, falling in deep sleep. 


	3. When the Torture Begins

Ensnared in my Reverie  
  
***There's a new mutant in town, and she has the intention of riding the world with mutants. She can be deadly and you won't even know it until you're already dead***  
  
Summary: Mutants have been dying and Adam is worried this might be some kind of epidemic. But he soon finds out how wrong he is, because all these appeared to have good health when they died. Adam is confused how this new mutant kills, and when he finds out exactly how, there is a price to pay. He must find a cure or he will loose two members.  
  
Read and review!!!  
  
**NOTE** Thanks so much for your reviews!!! Even if there's only a few, but still! It's all positive, and I can't help but feel ecstatic [because this is somewhat one of my first ever posted fanfics on the internet] and I'm writing this thing pronto!!! =)  
  
BRIGITTA - well, now that you've mentioned it, yup, I've thought about this story a whole lot! I've started writing it since last April, but I've only thought about the structure of the story. Not so much about the detail, as I'm not so good with Mutant X details [like the Sanctuary or Genomex ( did I even spell that right???!] But stupid thing was I pressed the save button on the wrong document.and well, bottom line is all my ideas about this story went ^poof^ gone instantly! So, I'm trying hard to put it all together back again. ^sigh^  
  
Anyway, pardon my mistakes, and I'll do my best!!! =)  
  
GOLDSTRANGER - yup, some episode like this did happen in season one.I think the title of the episode was [nothing to fear] and it was all a weird coincidence because after I wrote down my ideas for this story, that particular episode was aired on Star World, and I felt so bad because my idea were the same, and people might think I copied this story from that episode, but I seriously didn't. =] I guess I'll just have to make it as different as possible. I won't be putting any "marks" on the victims, like in that certain episode. Huh. Am I making any sense?!? =) I'm just so excited!!!  
  
Hope you all like this one, and DOUBLEKIDZ, I hope I've tortured Jesse enough for you!!!  
  
+read, enjoy, review+  
  
Chapter 3 - Succumbing to it  
  
Jesse stretched and yawned as he woke up. But then he realized it was dark in his room, and it was cold, as if there was no electricity on. Standing up, he rubbed his eyes to rid the drowsiness. He looked around his room, and shivered.  
  
He walked outside, "Hey, guys, what's going on?" he called uncertainly, creeping along the dark corridor. He sighed exasperatedly, shaking his head. "Em, is this one of your mind jokes? Come on, what's going on?"  
  
He was walking barefoot, and Jesse didn't realize this until he stepped on a piece of broken glass. He gave a yell of surprise, and saw blood on the floor, his foot stinging. The glass had cut deep in his skin but Jesse didn't care. For now, he was worried where the others were, and what the hell was going on.  
  
He kept walking, creeping out of the deserted, dark hallway that led to their rooms. It was so dark, he couldn't see much. He was finding his way about when his foot hit something hard, but not so hard.  
  
And then, quite suddenly, as if intending for him to see what he wanted to see, the lights came back on.  
  
The whole Sanctuary was flooded in bright white light. And the sight that greeted Jesse was much worse than what he expected. The whole Sanctuary was ruined. The computer had been smashed into bits, and when he looked in Adam's lab, everything was broken into pieces.  
  
But that wasn't what worried Jesse.  
  
"Emma!" he cried out as he recognized the form of Emma, lying on the floor. A pool of blood surrounded her head. Jesse bent down and felt for a pulse. "Come on," he half-whispered, half-screamed. But there was nothing.  
  
"No!" Jesse's voice reverberated all around the Sanctuary, his angst apparent. He stared back at Emma, caressing her face. There was a gash on her neck that had killed her.  
  
And not far from her, Jesse saw Brennan, and Shalimar. Both lying side by side, also not moving. Jesse saw burnt marks all over Shalimar, and Brennan too. Jesse guessed as much that Brennan tried to shield Shalimar from the fire, but it was no use.  
  
"This can't be happening!" Jesse yelled, his voice breaking. He cradled Emma in his arms, the tears flowing down his cheeks. He wasn't there for her. Shalimar had Brennan but she.Emma.didn't have him. Damn it all! He cared for her, so much. Shalimar always had Brennan, ever since they got together two months ago, but he and Emma.they.he never.  
  
He never had the courage to tell her how he felt. He cared for her so much.  
  
"Heartbreaking, isn't it?"  
  
Jesse felt someone standing over him. He knew without having to turn around that this was the man who had killed all his friends. Two pairs of hands grabbed him from behind but Jesse didn't fight, he gave himself in, as two guards lifted him up, away from Emma, Brennan and Shalimar, all dead.  
  
He was taken in what used to be the lab. Jesse saw Adam, tied to a chair, his whole face bleeding. At least, Adam was still alive, he realized.  
  
And with a surge of anger, Jesse realized that he had to help Adam. He couldn't just do nothing and stand aside, letting these people kill Adam. He looked back at Emma, wishing there was something Adam could do to save them. He took a deep breath and phased.  
  
But nothing happened.  
  
"It's no use Mr. Kilmartin," a voice said laughing evilly.  
  
Jesse tried again. He had to do something to save Mutant X, even if it was only him and Adam that was left now. He couldn't watch these people ruin all they've worked hard for.  
  
Still, nothing happened.  
  
The two guards dragged Jesse over to a chair, chaining him there, with his hands behind him. A blindfold was placed over his eyes, and the next thing he knew, a knife was plunged in his right arm. He gave a cry of pain.  
  
"Hurts, doesn't it?" the same voice remarked, a tone of amusement in his voice. "I couldn't think of any better way to torture you. Well, I tried to torture all the others but they put too much of a fight, you see. I'm so glad that you are different."  
  
Jesse struggled against the chains that was tying him in. "Who are you?" he asked, his voice echoing.  
  
"Now, now," the voice replied, chuckling gleefully. "Why should I tell you?"  
  
And again, Jesse felt the painful tip of a knife slicing through his arm. He could feel blood pouring out, and his head throbbed. Everything was painful - what he had seen, what he felt, and what he was feeling now. "Is Adam still alive?"  
  
No one answered.  
  
"Adam?" Jesse called hurriedly. "Are you alright?" he asked, ignoring the pain.  
  
"He won't talk," the voice said once more, but his tone was serious. "He's gone now, Mr. Kilmartin. It seems like you're the only surviving member of Mutant X."  
  
"Noooooooo!" Jesse screamed, thrashing in his chair and struggling against the chains, rattling against metal. "This can't be happening!" he cried out squeezing his eyes shut, and praying. "This is not happening!" he said once more.  
  
"It is happening, Jesse," the voice said.  
  
And then when Jesse opened his eyes, the bodies of Adam, Brennan, Shalimar and Emma were all lying in front of him. Their eyes were open, and they stared openly at him, as if they were still alive. But Jesse knew that they were dead.  
  
His head dropped down, in surrender. "I'm sorry," he whispered, his voice full of anguish. "I'm so sorry," he repeated as his voice broke, and tears fell down his cheeks. 


	4. The Continuity of it All

Ensnared in my Reverie  
  
***There's a new mutant in town, and she has the intention of riding the world with mutants. She can be deadly and you won't even know it until you're already dead***  
  
Summary: Mutants have been dying and Adam is worried this might be some kind of epidemic. But he soon finds out how wrong he is, because all these appeared to have good health when they died. Adam is confused how this new mutant kills, and when he finds out exactly how, there is a price to pay. He must find a cure or he will loose two members.  
  
Read and review!!!  
  
***NOTE*** this should have gone with the part one of chapter three.but something kept going wrong whenever I uploaded this chapter, and the part about Jesse was missing. Anyway, I just cut the two parts, so that you'd get to read this all. Hope you do get to read the complete story, because I updated chapter3 with only Emma's nightmare, and without Jesse's nightmare. Er, am I making sense? Oh well, just review and tell me if you read everything [Jesse AND Emma's nightmares]  
  
+read, enjoy, review+  
  
Chapter 3 - Succumbing to It  
  
In her room, Emma bolted upright on her bed. She was terrified. She kept hearing Jesse's voice in her mind, screaming in pain, and calling out to her, to all of them. She threw the covers of her, and got off the bed. She didn't even put a robe around or put on slippers.  
  
She was concerned for Jesse.  
  
She practically ran out of the room. She was reaching for the door when it happened.  
  
The wall moved towards her. Emma took a step back, and her head swiveled around the room. All the walls were moving towards her, closing in on her. And Emma started to panic. "Help!" she called, frightened. With a crash, her closet fell on the floor, and was pushed towards her.  
  
Everything else was moving towards her.  
  
"No," Emma whispered walking towards the center of the room. "Stop, please stop," she whispered, shutting her eyes. And then she heard Jesse cry out her name, and she saw an image of her own bloody face, through Jesse's eyes.  
  
"Jesse!" she called to him, but she didn't realize she had backed up against her fallen closet and she fell back against it. The walls were so close. Emma stretched out her arms, trying to stop it. She was crying now, in her fear. "Please stop!" she cried out, her voice breaking.  
  
But the walls kept pressing in.  
  
Emma watched as the four walls crushed her table, her bed and her closet. The walls were pressing on her now, an arm's length away. Emma stood up, standing on all the broken pieces. She pounded against the walls, screaming, "Please stop this!"  
  
Her screams of panic became screams of pain as she felt herself being crushed, her bones breaking. Emma screamed, just as she heard Jesse scream in her mind. He was being tortured just as she was being crushed.  
  
And then, everything was silent. 


	5. The Morning Passes

Ensnared in my Reverie  
  
***There's a new mutant in town, and she has the intention of riding the world with mutants. She can be deadly and you won't even know it until you're already dead***  
  
Summary: Mutants have been dying and Adam is worried this might be some kind of epidemic. But he soon finds out how wrong he is, because all these appeared to have good health when they died. Adam is confused how this new mutant kills, and when he finds out exactly how, there is a price to pay. He must find a cure or he will loose two members.  
  
Read and review!!!  
  
***NOTE*** I added a little romance in this story between Shalimar and Brennan, just to loosen up the tone of the story. And pardon me. I'm not good with describing all those, er, karate moves that they do. I hope this doesn't suck, but this is basically short. Here goes.  
  
+read, enjoy, review+  
  
Chapter 4 - The Morning Passes  
  
Shalimar struggled from underneath Brennan, gasping for breath. "You're heavy!"  
  
Brennan grinned down at her. "I don't hear you complaining before," he whispered, his lips brushing against her ear, and he began kissing that tender spot behind her ear. "Am I still heavy?" he murmured huskily, bracing his weight on his arms for support, but continuing with the little love play.  
  
Shalimar groaned. "You shouldn't do this," she whispered, clutching his arms. "Emma or Jesse or Adam might walk in on us," she explained, her eyes fluttering to a close.  
  
Brennan pushed himself up. "You're right."  
  
Shalimar's eyes flew open and she glared at Brennan. She realized now he was clearly teasing her, toying with her affections. "I hate you," she snapped.  
  
The next minute that two were locked in combat, the sexual tension between them obvious.  
  
"Is that all you've got?" Shalimar asked, her cat eyes flashing as she taunted Brennan. She circled around him, a cocky smile on her face. She jumped just as Brennan sent a wave of electricity towards her. "Oh come on, Brennan, you can do much better than that!"  
  
"You're right!" Brennan muttered as he raised both hands, sending a wave of electricity on either side of her. Shalimar was caught surprised by these two waves, and Brennan was able to tackle her. They both fell with a thud, and Brennan grinned at her. "Give up?"  
  
"Never!" Shalimar gasped as she pushed Brennan off her.  
  
"Hey guys," Adam called as he stepped inside the Sanctuary. Brennan and Shalimar seemed to be knocking each other out again, he noticed as he walked past them, Shalimar aiming a high kick at Brennan's head. He glanced at his watch, and realized it was almost noon. "Where's Emma and Jesse?" he asked.  
  
Shalimar and Brennan both stopped their fighting. "They're still sleeping," Shalimar said, breathing hard.  
  
Adam was instantly alarmed, knowing what was going on for the past three weeks. Bodies of mutants and even non-mutants turning up all around town who had been dying in their sleep "They don't usually sleep in this late," he warned, his brow furrowed.  
  
Shalimar read the look in his face. "Oh no, Adam, you don't-"  
  
But Adam was already running towards their rooms. He reached Emma's first. "Emma, wake up," he called shaking her, violently.  
  
"I'll try Jesse," Brennan said leaving the room.  
  
"Oh no," Shalimar whispered, tears in her eyes.  
  
Adam looked up. "No," he said in a demanding tone. "We're not going to loose them. Shalimar, bring her in the lab," he ordered as he stepped out the room. "Brennan, bring Jesse to the lab," he called and then he rushed towards the lab thinking of what to do. 


	6. The Incarceration of the Dream Girl

Ensnared in my Reverie  
  
***There's a new mutant in town, and she has the intention of riding the world with mutants. She can be deadly and you won't even know it until you're already dead***  
  
Summary: Mutants have been dying and Adam is worried this might be some kind of epidemic. But he soon finds out how wrong he is, because all these appeared to have good health when they died. Adam is confused how this new mutant kills, and when he finds out exactly how, there is a price to pay. He must find a cure or he will loose two members.  
  
Read and review!!!  
  
***NOTE*** Sorry, guys/readers/girls. Hehe. This just might be a tad too dramatic for you [or maybe I underestimate your expectations, then again, maybe not]. Ne? Can't help it, as you'll get the lowdown on Sheila's past.at least, a glimpse of how she was before she became all high and mighty. And, by the way, Sheila's only seventeen or eighteen [I wanted some sort of teen crisis/identity crisis.ne?] oh well, here goes.  
  
+read, enjoy, review+  
  
Chapter 5 - The Incarceration of the Dream Girl  
  
Sheila flipped from channel to channel, clearly annoyed.  
  
"Damn it, where the hell are those bodies?" she exclaimed, throwing the remote halfway across the room. Her recent victims still haven't made front page and she was getting impatient. A week had already passed since the last news reported a mysterious ailment occurring all over town.  
  
Sheila scoffed, as she pushed herself off the couch and turned off the TV. "Mysterious ailment, my ass," she muttered, walking towards her small kitchen. She had nothing inside her fridge, and she wrinkled her nose. "I need to shop," she stated, and at the same time reaching for her purse. She had no money, except maybe a few coins.  
  
She shrugged. It won't make any difference, she thought, as she pocketed the key to her apartment, and headed out the door. She walked in the nearest convenience center, a bell tinkling above her as she stepped in.  
  
"Did someone die?" Sheila heard someone say. She turned around and saw a redhead, frowning at her. Two brunettes flanked the redhead, and they were looking at her in disdain. Sheila was strongly reminded of Brittney Spears in her video, with the short skirt uniform and knee-high socks.  
  
"Can you say loser?" one of the brunettes muttered, and they all giggled.  
  
Sheila rolled her eyes, and got a basket. She knew who these girls were, and she was wondering what they were doing in a convenience store and not parading around some mall.  
  
"Neon pink hair and black clothes? What is wrong with her? Hel-lo, there's such thing as style today. And what's with the grunge look?" another voice piped in, and the three girls giggled again.  
  
"Who are you laughing at?" a guy's voice interrupted.  
  
Sheila turned around, and saw a gorgeous guy, staring at her. But of course, she couldn't like him because he was blond and she was betting her life that the swanky black BMW outside was his. And that the name Cooper Reeves, jock and popular guy extraordinaire, was his too.  
  
"That girl with the worst taste of clothes, ever," the redhead explained, linking her arm through his, as if to make a point that he was taken.  
  
Not that Sheila cared. Cooper was completely wrong for her. The last blond preppy guy she had gone out with, ended up dead three days later. And she had to commend herself an Oscar worthy performance, because she had cried her eyes out, mumbling in between sobs, 'how much she had loved him and would do nothing to hurt her boyfriend.' The police believed her, of course, and so did his parents.  
  
Stupid idiots, she thought.  
  
"Leave her alone," he muttered heatedly and walked out the store.  
  
"Oh geez, Fran," one of the brunettes muttered. "Your boyfriend is PMS-ing again!"  
  
The three girls left the store and Sheila was given her peace to get her shopping done. There was a woman behind the counter, her face buried in a book. Sheila snickered when she saw it was one of the romance novels with the cover of half-naked he-man and a woman clinging to him.  
  
Walking past the aisle full of canned food, she pushed everything off the shelf. The woman looked up, annoyed. She and Sheila looked at each other, Sheila looking innocent. Finally, the woman stood up from her place, dropping the book down. She walked towards the back of the store, fixing all the cans.  
  
Sheila seized the opportunity and hit the woman with a can of corned beef on the back of her head. The woman slumped forward and Sheila a made her graceful exit.  
  
"Nice trick."  
  
Sheila nearly dropped the basket in surprise. The blonde guy from inside was leaning against his car, his arms crossed in a relaxed stance. Sheila ignored him, and crossed the street. She kept walking, thinking he wouldn't follow her, and was already climbing the stairs to her apartment, when she heard him again.  
  
"Nice ass, too."  
  
"What?!" Sheila exclaimed, scandalized as she turned around facing him. "What the hell are you doing, following me? Did your redhead girl dump you already?"  
  
"Nice temper," he replied grinning.  
  
Sheila whirled around, and fished the keys out her pocket, and inserted the key in the lock. She was closing the door behind her when he stopped it with his hand. "Can I at least have your name?" he asked lightly, teasingly. He already knew her name.  
  
"Why? Don't you like yours?" Sheila asked in return, smiling serenely up at him. But then, she furrowed her brow and pushed the door to close. He wouldn't budge. She sighed exasperatedly. "You know, I don't understand what your problem is, Reeves-"  
  
"You know why I've been doing this," he spoke softly, his eyes searching her.  
  
Sheila looked away, because she did know. Cooper Reeves belonged to a past she was trying so hard to forget. She let out a deep breath and said calmly, "I don't know anything, Cooper."  
  
"The hell you don't!" he exclaimed angrily. "Billy was alive and healthy before he died, and I know that you had something do it with it. That's why you ran away from home, and started living in this dump. Your mother wants to see you again, Sheila," he added in a softer tone.  
  
"Well, it's their fault I ran away!" Sheila yelled back, dropping her things to the floor. "They blamed me for Billy's death, damn it! I was thirteen, I didn't know what I was doing!"  
  
Cooper stared at her. "You admit to killing him then?"  
  
"I did not kill him," Sheila said through gritted teeth. "You get away if you don't want the same thing to happen to you," she yelled at him before she pushed the door with all her might, and Cooper was left standing outside.  
  
Then, Sheila collapsed, leaning against the door, her face in her hands. Her shoulders shook and she wept softly. She remembered everything now - how she saw him, with his eyes open, lying on the bed; how he had been screaming before that; how the paramedics finally said he was dead.  
  
"It's not my fault," she whispered to herself, shaking her head.  
  
"Sheila," Cooper's muffled voice came. "Let me in."  
  
Sheila sprang away from the door in panic, afraid that he heard her crying. Obviously, it was the wrong thing to do because she had left the door unblocked. Cooper was able to walk in, and when he saw her tear-strained face, his face softened. "Sheila, I'm sorry," he began.  
  
"I didn't kill him!" Sheila cried defensively. "It was an accident!"  
  
"I know," Cooper soothed gathering her in his arms and carrying her to the couch. "It's okay. I know."  
  
Sheila shook her head. "How would you?" And then, just as she asked the question, she knew the answer. Cooper was a psyonic. She looked up at him, questioningly. "I never knew."  
  
"I didn't either, until recently," Cooper replied. "I thought before it was all coincidence, how I knew what other's were thinking, but now, I know."  
  
"How?"  
  
Cooper looked at her. "His name is Adam, and he runs this sort-of underground thing. He knows a whole lot about mutants, and he has this group called Mutant X, and they run around and save the world. That's the short version of it."  
  
"Can he help me?" Sheila asked woefully. "I'm so tired with all this, with my being a freak-"  
  
"You're not a freak," Cooper reprimanded shaking his head at her. "You have a gift-"  
  
"A gift that kills people! That's hardly a gift, Cooper. I've killed Billy and my dad, both my real father and my foster father, and I've killed my real mom too. Is that a gift?" Sheila ranted, shaking her head. "It's a curse!"  
  
Cooper frowned. "It is with how you're using it."  
  
Sheila looked up at him, and she saw he was looking at the newspaper clippings she had posted behind the door. Clippings of all her victims. "Cooper, I-"  
  
"You were behind it all?" Cooper interrupted, incredulous. "Sheila!"  
  
"I wasn't.I didn't, I only wanted," she stammered, covering her face with her hands, as she tried to control the tears threatening to overflow.  
  
"Sheila, you shouldn't have done this," Cooper exclaimed, standing up from the couch, as if to stay away from her. "How could you?" he asked hoarsely.  
  
Sheila looked up at him. "I never meant for it to go this far," she mumbled.  
  
"The hell you didn't!" Cooper exploded. "I know you, Sheila, just like I knew Billy. I know what happened was an accident but after what your parents did, you blamed them, and you blamed the whole world. That's the reason behind this all, isn't it?"  
  
Sheila didn't say anything. She swallowed the lump in her throat.  
  
Cooper looked down at her. "You hate the world, Sheila, but you really shouldn't have done this-"  
  
Sheila stood up, staring at him, her eyes flashing dangerously. "Why shouldn't I? God, the way my parents looked at me after? I knew they hated me," she paused shaking her head. "Hate isn't the word for it. Cooper, they loathed me. And I knew that they never truly loved me, they loved Billy more-"  
  
"No," Cooper interrupted, reaching out and grabbing her by her shoulders. "Sheila, your parents loved you as much as they loved Billy. There were only affected by Billy's death because he was their only son. You can't imagine what it's like to loose your only child."  
  
Sheila glared at him. "What is this? You also lost your only son?"  
  
Cooper frowned at her. "No, but I know how they felt. I could read their thoughts, remember? And your mom, she was in more pain when your dad died."  
  
"Well, it served him right!" Sheila retorted, moving out of his grasp. "He called me a freak, and he would've killed me too if it hadn't been for my mom coming home. Oh no, he hated me a lot, and that's why I did what I did. I hated to rid the world of his filth."  
  
"You do not have the right to play God, Sheila," Cooper yelled.  
  
"Oh yes I have, Cooper, and I have done it," Sheila snapped gathering her coat.  
  
Cooper grabbed her by the arm. "Where the hell are you going?"  
  
Sheila glared at him, and said in a venomous voice, "To play God, Cooper, and by God, Cooper, you are not going to stop me." She wrenched her arm away.  
  
"I am not going to let you kill more people, Sheila," Cooper roared.  
  
Sheila lost her control and without hesitating, touched Cooper, inflicting it upon him.  
  
Cooper staggered back, feeling the burn. "Shit. What have you done to me?"  
  
Sheila threw open the door, and ran. She distantly heard Cooper yelling, screaming, at her to stop what she was going to do, to help him. But how she was going to help him? Once the curse was there, there was no way out of it. She rushed out the building, through the alleyway behind it, the metal doors shutting behind her.  
  
What had she done?  
  
Cooper was the only left who wanted to help her. Or maybe her mother, but she had no idea where her mother was. She was alone now. She had nowhere to go.  
  
Her cry of fury pierced the air.  
  
"Miss Compton, we'd like to have a chat."  
  
Sheila whirled around and saw GSA agents. She backtracked against the alley, and started to run. She kept running, and running for her life. Her parents had protected her from these people. They were evil, according to them. She kept running, panting for breath.  
  
Sheila looked behind her and saw no one. She cursed under her breath, berating herself for taking a step to far. Now the GSA was definitely after her. She rushed behind a pile of crate boxes, catching her breath. She shouldn't have done it to one of them. How was she going to escape this?  
  
Peering around the edge of one of the boxes, she sighed in relief when she saw the alley was empty. But then, she felt something hard against her back, and she stiffened.  
  
"Game's over, Miss Compton," a harsh voice said.  
  
"You're going to be dreaming about this," another voice added.  
  
But Sheila grabbed at whoever it was behind her, making sure she had transferred her energy onto him, before she passed out. 


	7. The Rousing of the Dream

Ensnared in my Reverie  
  
***There's a new mutant in town, and she has the intention of riding the world with mutants. She can be deadly and you won't even know it until you're already dead***  
  
Summary: Mutants have been dying and Adam is worried this might be some kind of epidemic. But he soon finds out how wrong he is, because all these appeared to have good health when they died. Adam is confused how this new mutant kills, and when he finds out exactly how, there is a price to pay. He must find a cure or he will loose two members.  
  
Read and review!!!  
  
***NOTE [again]*** Hooray for WEEKENDS!!! =) I finished another chapter but, uh-oh, I'm not good with this part. Basically, Adam finds out about Sheila and they get her from Genomex. How they found out, well.Adam's a magician, and he just cast a few simple spells that told him where Sheila was. Hah, just kidding. =) Bottom line is, Mutant X got Sheila from Genomex. Oh and by the way, Eckhart is still under control, not Ashlocke. [did I spell that right?] Hooray for the new season of Mutant X TONIGHT [here in the Philippines, at least] where Eckhart is no longer the enemy. Hah! =)  
  
+read, enjoy, review+  
  
Chapter 6 - The Rousing of the Dream  
  
The mother was an elemental whom incarcerated her victims and ensnared them in a cage of water, and it was a cage that contained also another thing - the thing that her victim feared the most.  
  
The father was another mutant, also powerful and wise.  
  
Together, they were most powerful, perfect and lethal. No one could withstand them. But when the time came, much more greater, much more powerful, was their daughter. A psyonic who could ensnare anyone in their own reverie, in their own dreams, and once locked inside, they could not leave.  
  
But it was because of this power, that Sheila Compton was in so much pain.  
  
When Sheila opened her eyes, she panicked. She recognized this room, having seen it from the eyes of a six-year old. A six-year old who watched her father, screaming in agony until finally her mother carried her off, and together they ran away, away from this place, to where her mother brought her to a new family.  
  
"Mommy?" Sheila whispered, staring up at the white ceiling, as though transfixed by it.  
  
She remembered her mother had the face of an angel. She remembered how much her mother had taken care of her, had loved her, and had given her a new home. But most of all, she remembered how her mother looked when she had seen her husband, twisting and screaming in agony.  
  
"Daddy." Sheila closed her eyes, trying to block the images. She could see the haunted look her father gave her, and she could hear the echo of the words that a man once said to her.  
  
"It's all your fault, Sheila. You killed your daddy."  
  
Sheila's eyes flew open, and a tear fell down her cheek. Just as another man told her.  
  
"It's your damn fault Billy is dead, you freak!"  
  
And another tear fell down her cheek.  
  
Cooper told her it was a gift. Look what her gift had done to so many people she loved. Her gift was a curse, a killing curse and she did not know how to stop it. Unless, if she killed herself.  
  
"Miss Compton, you're awake."  
  
It was a statement, not a question. Uttered by the same man who had eleven years before, told her that she had killed her father. Mason Eckhart stepped into the room, walking slowly. "It's a rather terrible thing what you have done to one of my agents, and all the other people out there."  
  
Sheila turned her head away from him, and closed her eyes.  
  
"How sad your parents must be if they would have known how you used your mutant abilities, how you are using your mutant abilities," he continued, his voice without emotion. "But, of course, I forgot. It was you who killed your parents."  
  
Sheila blocked away the sound of his voice.  
  
"We eventually found your mother after the two of you left the complex. I did not find you then, but I have you now. Your mother kept calling your name in her nightmare. Her greatest fear must have been to see you die or to see you hurt. But she didn't suffer long she died instantly. Only," pause, "-after two days."  
  
A fresh batch of tears threatened to overflow from Sheila. She realized now what she had done to her mother, and it tore her heart to realize what she had done. She had killed both her parents.  
  
"Your father, on the other hand, was a different case. He kept muttering how it wasn't real, how it would all stop. I can only imagine his disappointment when it all didn't stop, when he realized it was all real."  
  
Silence.  
  
"Would you like to know where your father is right now, Sheila? You must think he's buried somewhere, six feet under the ground. But that's not true, Sheila. Your father is still alive."  
  
Sheila's eyes flew open, and she let out a whimper.  
  
"Yes, your father is still alive," Eckhart said slowly. "But it's a pity he in a mental institution. Doctors say nothing can help him, and for some reason, he won't die. Apparently, your gift had a different effect on him. And I wonder why or what it is."  
  
Sheila took deep shaky breaths, her fingers trembling.  
  
"Sheila, try saying something. It's never to good to keep everything inside. You wouldn't want anything bad to happen now, would you?" Eckhart asked. And then he said, "It's terrible what you have. It's a weapon, and no one would know what it is until they're already dead. I surmise even your parents did not about this. Not, until it was already too late."  
  
Sheila suddenly screamed, feeling all the pain and the anger all those years. She struggled against the chains on her hands and her ankles, twisting and thrashing on the metallic table. She was barely aware of Eckhart laughing. She was only aware of the searing pain and burning anger she felt.  
  
And it was at the exact same moment, hundreds of miles away that Cooper Reeves fell down on the carpeted floor, clutching his head and screaming, screaming for it to stop, screaming in pain. The monster in his mind was killing him slowly.  
  
And also at the exact same moment, at the Sanctuary, Shalimar was in tears as she struggled to calm Jesse who was also screaming, and clutching his head. "No!" he screamed, his eyes squeezed tightly. He was lying down, and he kept thrashing around just like he was having a really bad dream.  
  
"Stop it!" Emma screamed from the other side of the room. She was also lying down, her fists clenched at her sides, her knuckles white. "Stop it! This can't be happening! Please stop!"  
  
Shalimar turned around to look at Emma, and Brennan who was trying to talk to her. "Emma, Emma! Listen, it's not real," Brennan said to her, shaking her by the shoulders.  
  
"No, don't do that! Don't hurt her!" Jesse yelled, beads of sweat on his forehead.  
  
"Help me! Please stop it!" Emma cried out, her voice breaking.  
  
When Adam rushed in the room, Shalimar looked at him and asked, "Adam, what's going on? They weren't like this minutes ago."  
  
"I found who did all this. Sheila Compton. She's at Genomex right now, and I'm guessing that this is Sheila's doing. Something in her triggered this," he explained as he went from Emma to Jesse, placing a hand on their forehead. "And if my guess is right, Sheila has got them trapped inside their minds."  
  
"What can we do?" Brennan asked.  
  
Adam looked at him. "You have to get Sheila, and bring her here. We need to ask her some questions."  
  
Brennan nodded. He looked at Shalimar, who was casting worried glances at Emma and Jesse. "Are you coming, Shal?" he asked softly. She nodded and they both left the lab.  
  
Back at Genomex, Sheila had calm down. But her fists were still clenched tightly. Eckhart left, and she didn't understand why. She thought he was glad to see the pain she was going through.  
  
Her father was still alive.  
  
The thought flashed through her mind, and she burst into tears. She wanted to reach up and cover her face but the chains held her back. She let out a cry of fury as she struggled against the chains. "Daddy," she whimpered sobbing softly. "Why?"  
  
She curled up in a fetal position, wanting so much to die. When she saw the face of an angel. It was her mom, smiling down at her. "Sheila, sweetheart, mommy's here," the angel murmured, her fingers caressing Sheila's face and Sheila felt a soft breeze on her face. "Don't cry any more."  
  
"Mommy?" Sheila whispered staring up at the sweet smile. "Don't ever leave me."  
  
And then she fell asleep. 


	8. Insanity Begins the Demise

Ensnared in my Reverie  
  
***There's a new mutant in town, and she has the intention of riding the world with mutants. She can be deadly and you won't even know it until you're already dead***  
  
Summary: Mutants have been dying and Adam is worried this might be some kind of epidemic. But he soon finds out how wrong he is, because all these appeared to have good health when they died. Adam is confused how this new mutant kills, and when he finds out exactly how, there is a price to pay. He must find a cure or he will loose two members.  
  
Read and review!!!  
  
***NOTE [again and always]*** the chapters "When the Torture Begins" and "The Continuity of it All" is basically just under chapter three, and the title of that is "Succumbing to it." Something went wrong every time I uploaded that chap.3, and it was always uploaded only in half, not the whole chapter. So I just cut that chapter into two parts [Jesse and Emma's nightmare] and gave each part a different title. Get it? Anyway, that was just to clear things up. Some of you might get confused, and if you do, just review and ask me. =) How am I doing?  
  
+read, enjoy, review+  
  
Chapter 7 - Insanity Begins The Demise  
  
When Emma opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was black. The sky above her was black. But it was a different kind of black. It was like nothing was even there. Emma was lying down and she pushed herself up, and when she stood up, she nearly fell down. Her heart was in her throat as she stared at what she was standing on.  
  
Nothing.  
  
"Oh my God," she whispered to herself as she surveyed her surroundings. There was nothing around her. Just empty space. But how could she stand up? Why wasn't she falling down?  
  
Emma took a deep shaky breath, and stepped forward. She half-expected to fall but she didn't. It was like she was standing on something, except she could see nothing. She bent down and touched where the floor was supposed to be. She was shocked to see that her hand didn't touch anything, and it went past her foot.  
  
It was strange. She was standing on something but when she tried to touch whatever it was she was standing on, her hand only touch air. Emma's heart was beating fast. The idea of being blind so abruptly came to her, and she began groping around as if expecting to touch something.  
  
But there was nothing.  
  
"Jesse?" she called. "Adam? Brennan? Shalimar?"  
  
It was weird. There was no light, and yet she could see. Or at least, she thought she could see something. But it was all nothing. "What is going on?" she asked herself. "Hello? Is anybody here?" she called again in a louder voice. She expected to hear a echo, but she didn't. It was like her voice went out from her mouth and was gone.  
  
She didn't know what else to do except to continue walking. She realized that there was probably an end to all of this. But that didn't get her hopes up. It terrified her. The whole place terrified her. She could see, she could breath but she couldn't touch anything. She couldn't even hear her own voice.  
  
She took off her jacket and dropped it on the ground. This was going to be her mark. If she sees her jacket again, then she knows she's been walking around in circles. And she continues walking.  
  
Emma didn't have a watch with her, but she knew it must've been hours. At least, it felt like hours. For all she knew, it was probably only a few minutes. But she kept on walking, looking around, looking for a sign of something else. And then she saw something black that stood out from its surroundings.  
  
With a great surge of hope, Emma rushed forward but slowed to a walk when she saw it was only her jacket. Her heart plummeted down to the floor, or to whatever it was she was standing on. She started running away from her jacket and it was only a few seconds when she saw it lying before her. She ran in the opposite direction.  
  
Still, she saw her jacket.  
  
It was useless. She couldn't escape, whatever this place was. "Hello, anyone there?" she called again, in another attempt. Finally, she decided to talk to her friends telepathically. First she tried Adam, but she couldn't find him anywhere. It was like he was in another universe, so far away. The same was with Shalimar and Brennan.  
  
"Where are you guys?" she muttered, her eyes closed, concentrating. Lastly, she tried Jesse. She tried to sense where he was, and she found him. She tried talking to him, in his mind, and with a jerk, her eyes flew open.  
  
And then, for the first time, she could see something before her.  
  
"Jesse!" she cried out, standing up and rushing to him. But when she tried to touch him, her hand simply went through him as if he were a hologram. Up close, she could see he was crying. She could see the blood in his face, and she gasped. "Jesse, who did this?"  
  
And just as she asked her question, he let out a roar of fury.  
  
Emma saw blood on his arms, and realized someone was torturing him. "Jesse! Where are you?" she cried out to him. "I can help you!" But he didn't show any sign that he could hear her. Was this real or was it just a dream? An image she could see?  
  
"Jesse, talk to me! Listen to me, you have to let me help you," Emma said, bending down and staring up at the face of Jesse, the blood mingled with his tears. "Where are you?" she whispered, tears falling down her cheek. She could hear him screaming in pain, and it tore her heart. "Jesse!"  
  
And then suddenly, he looked up. "Emma?"  
  
Emma gasped, and moved closer to him. "Jesse? I'm here, I'm right beside you."  
  
"Where?" he asked, looking around. "I can't see you."  
  
"No, Jesse, I'm here. I know you can't see me but I can see you," Emma said.  
  
"No, you're not real," Jesse said firmly, shutting his eyes. "Please leave me alone. Stop this. I've already lost all my friends, I don't need you to haunt my memories and play tricks with my mind."  
  
Emma shook her head. "No, Jesse, I'm real. This is real, I'm not playing tricks."  
  
Jesse hung his head. "But Emma, you're dead."  
  
Emma stared at Jesse in shock. She shook her head vigorously. "No, that's not true, Jesse. That's not true," she whispered just as Jesse started fading away. "Jesse! It's not true! Don't believe that! Jesse, I'm still alive! Jesse! Listen to me!"  
  
But he was gone. She could no longer see him. And when she tried to talk to Jesse again, a pain in her head exploded. It hurt so bad that Emma screamed. It was like her head was splitting into two. "Stop it!" she exclaimed, clutching her head, tears running down her face.  
  
But the pain only intensified.  
  
Jesse never saw her. He didn't even believe Emma was still alive. Someone was playing tricks in his mind, making him hope it was all not real. But it was real. He could feel the pain, and he saw his friends die, all of them. And he was going to die too. He knew that.  
  
They were going to kill him.  
  
Only they thought it was funny to torture him. And much more torture was hearing Emma's voice, telling him she could help him and that she was right beside him. That she was real. But Jesse didn't believe her. He was dead he knew that. They killed her too. He watched helplessly as they killed her too.  
  
"Emma," he whispered her name, shakily.  
  
It was all too late. He couldn't save his friends. He couldn't save himself. He was going to die, he knew that now. He was going to die.  
  
Mutant X is no more. 


	9. The Dream Speaks

Ensnared in my Reverie  
  
***There's a new mutant in town, and she has the intention of riding the world with mutants. She can be deadly and you won't even know it until you're already dead***  
  
Summary: Mutants have been dying and Adam is worried this might be some kind of epidemic. But he soon finds out how wrong he is, because all these appeared to have good health when they died. Adam is confused how this new mutant kills, and when he finds out exactly how, there is a price to pay. He must find a cure or he will loose two members.  
  
Read and review!!!  
  
***NOTE [again]*** this might get boring. As it's about Sheila's past, and this chapter is long, very loooooOoong. Or maybe, not so long. This is not exactly my best, but I still hope it's okay. Anyway, just a few more chapters. Two more I think. So, this story will be a total of ten chapters, but I'm going to make a sequel. Jesse and Emma's romance, where they turn to each other to get over the nightmares of what they went through. =) Heheh.  
  
+read, enjoy, review+  
  
Chapter 8 - The Dream Speaks  
  
When Sheila opened her eyes, she nearly screamed as three pairs of eyes looked down at her. They all straightened up, moving a little further away. She looked at each of them. "Who are you?" she asked.  
  
"I'm Adam," the oldest of the group began. He gestured at a blond woman, "this is Shalimar and he's Brennan," he gestured to the brunette guy.  
  
"A feral and a elemental," Sheila stated, pushing herself to a sitting position. She looked at them. "You must be the Mutant X Cooper mentioned," she frowned slightly. "Only two members? What kind of a team would that be? You'd be easily outnumbered."  
  
"Actually, there's four of us," Shalimar spoke up, her cat eyes flashing.  
  
Brennan grabbed her arm. "But you did something to two of our friends."  
  
Sheila raised her eyebrows, crossing her arms. "I didn't anything to anybody else. I don't know what you're talking about."  
  
"Try turning around," Adam said, his voice quiet but his tone commanding.  
  
Sheila turned around and she gasped. She recognized them immediately, and remembered the night at the bar. She thought she'd never see them again, but apparently, she had messed with the wrong bunch of mutants. She faced Adam again and said, "Look, I'm sorry but I don't know how I can help them."  
  
"You're going to bring them out of this," Shalimar snarled.  
  
Sheila looked at their limp bodies, her eyebrows furrowed. They were having their dreams now, or their nightmares. She didn't how she was going to bring them out of it. She never tried and she never did so before. How was she going to do it now?  
  
"How did you know I was an elemental? And that Shalimar was a feral?" That was Brennan asking, as he looked curiously at Sheila.  
  
"I guess it's an added ability or something. I can usually sense a mutant from the non-mutants, and then I can sense which of the basic four of mutants you are," Sheila explained shrugging. "I'm not good with sensing a psyonic, though. There's something that blocks them out from my radar."  
  
There was silence in the room. And then.  
  
"Sheila, I need to you to tell me," Adam said. "About your past."  
  
Sheila looked up at him, and looked down at the floor. She shook her head, and said woefully, "I don't know where to begin." Images of her home, of her parents, of Billy, came flooding to her.  
  
"Begin from the first memory you can remember, Sheila," Adam said soothingly.  
  
Sheila nodded and she told her story.  
  
"The farthest back I can remember was when I was six. Its just fragments but I remember my parents fighting about something. They kept saying my name, and my dad said it was for my good, and my mom said that they were bad people. I didn't know who exactly they were, but as I grew up, I realized it was the GSA," she exhaled slowly and continued.  
  
"One day, my dad picked me up from school. He told me he was going to bring me someplace safe, someplace that could help me. I didn't understand what was wrong with me back then. But I went with him. He brought me there, to Genomex. Dad brought me to this man, I know now that his name is Eckhart. They were talking, but I wasn't listening. I was looking around at the people in the boxes, and then my mom walked in," Sheila paused as though reliving everything was hurting her.  
  
"My mom and my dad started fighting again. I listened this time, and I found out that what my dad was doing was bad. At least, I figured it was bad, and my mom was mad at him, and she did something to my dad, and he began to panic. He started screaming, as if he really afraid of something. And then, he stopped. He got angry with my mom for something, and they started arguing again. Until he slapped her."  
  
Sheila took a deep breath. "He never slapped her before, and when he did, I felt so angry. I loved my mom so much, and I loved my dad too, but he was acting different. It was like it wasn't even him. When he touched me, he suddenly recoiled as if he touched something hot. And I saw that his fingers were raw. I can't remember much after because everything was a blur. Everyone was yelling, and screaming."  
  
"The next thing I can remember is seeing my dad, on a bed, screaming," Sheila murmured but the others heard her. She turned around, looking at Emma and Jesse who were quiet, as though sleeping. Sheila felt the tears in her eyes and blinked them away.  
  
"He would scream now and then, and move, but I didn't understand what was wrong with him. I asked my mom, and she didn't say anything. She only looked at me, and then, the next thing I know, we were running. We fled away from that place, and that's when she brought me to the Benton's."  
  
She faced them again, except she wasn't looking them in the eye.  
  
"I didn't understand it at first, but then my mom told me that she had to leave me. I got angry and afraid, I asked why she was going to leave but she never answered me, why or what was going on. She only told me that I had to stay with the Benton's, with people I didn't even know. I didn't want her to go, but she did. She left me."  
  
Sheila was quiet for a while. And then she continued.  
  
"The Benton's were great. They welcomed me, and I learned later on that Helen Benton was my mom's best friend. They took me in, and their son, Billy, was even nice to me. They were great, and I learned to love them, to know them as my real family."  
  
"What happened to your mom?" Shalimar asked quietly, speaking for the first time.  
  
Sheila looked at her and shrugged. "She never came back. I didn't know where to look for her, and as I grew up, Helen explained to me that my mom did love me that she had to leave for a reason. They were great and though I didn't forget about my real parents, I came to treat Helen and Donald as my parents too. I knew that my real parents were never going to come back, so I sort of moved on."  
  
"Everything began changing when I was thirteen. Something was different in me, but I didn't know what it was. Until, Helen told me about every thing. She told me that my parents were mutants and that I was too. What she couldn't explain was what kind of mutant ability I could do because she herself didn't know. I think even my real mom didn't understand what I could do, until I was too late."  
  
Sheila wrapped her arms around herself in a hug. "Billy, my brother, found out. He started treating me differently. I didn't have extra heads or eyes at the back of my head, but I might as well have had one. The way Billy looked at me, I felt so isolated and so alone. Helen didn't know how I felt though she did try to help."  
  
"One day, Billy and I were alone at the house. He started mentioning casually about my being a mutant, asking me what I could do. I told him I didn't know, but he didn't believe me. He said I was hiding it from them, and that I'd probably kill them when they least expected it. I told him I wouldn't do that, but he kept taunting me. It was like all those years, he never really did like me. He hated me for coming into his family."  
  
Sheila gripped her hands tightly. "I was so mad at him, I pushed him. I didn't know what I had done then. And when Billy didn't wake up the next day, he was rushed to the hospital. My parents were worried. The doctor said he was fine, that he was merely unconscious. But three days later, he died."  
  
"How he died was so unnatural that they knew it had something to do with me. My mom never mentioned anything. Helen didn't blame me, at least, not directly. But Donald, he hated me after Billy died. I could see it in his eyes, it was only Helen that held him back. I was fourteen then. We were alone at the house, and he called me a freak. He blamed me. And I knew he would've killed me if Helen hadn't come home."  
  
Sheila hung her head. "I was ashamed of what I had done, so I ran away from home. And that's when all this began. I just hated everything. I hated being a mutant. I always hurt that people that I cared for. Just one touch. And I know now, how stupid I was to go on this major power trip. I shouldn't have done all of it, and," she took a deep breath and looked back at Emma and Jesse. "I want to help them."  
  
Adam smiled slowly. "I'm glad, Sheila. But it might not be so easy. We have to find a way how you can help them," he explained. "Maybe along your mutant ability, there is a good side. It isn't just about locking someone inside their own state of unconscious."  
  
Sheila nodded.  
  
"Do you know where your parents are now?" Brennan asked.  
  
Sheila answered, "My mom's dead, I know that. But my dad, Eckhart said he's in a mental institution."  
  
"He's alive?" Shalimar asked. "All these years?"  
  
Sheila nodded sadly. "I don't understand why I had a different effect on him." Then she stiffened, as though she suddenly realized something was wrong.  
  
"What kind of mutants were your parents?" Adam asked, facing Sheila.  
  
"My mom was an elemental, except she sort of was different. She would trap someone in this wall of water, and with her mind, she would send some sort of thing that the person feared most. Am I making sense?" Sheila asked hesitantly. "Except, that person who could see it. My mom's ability played with whatever a person could see. But my dad played with whatever the person thought."  
  
Sheila gasped at what she had just said.  
  
"Your dad's a psyonic?" Brennan asked. "And you touched him?"  
  
"But, he's in a mental institution! Emma!" Shalimar exclaimed. "What about Emma!"  
  
Just then, both Emma and Jesse began their ritual screaming. They were having another nightmare. 


	10. The Angelic Sacrifice

Ensnared in my Reverie  
  
***There's a new mutant in town, and she has the intention of riding the world with mutants. She can be deadly and you won't even know it until you're already dead***  
  
Summary: Mutants have been dying and Adam is worried this might be some kind of epidemic. But he soon finds out how wrong he is, because all these appeared to have good health when they died. Adam is confused how this new mutant kills, and when he finds out exactly how, there is a price to pay. He must find a cure or he will loose two members.  
  
Read and review!!!  
  
***NOTE*** Oooh, 2nd to the last chapter! Wow! I hope I didn't write Adam off as some useless leader, because he didn't do much in this story. I'm sorry, but I just have no idea how Adam's brain cells work, though I tried to decipher it [to no avail].I know, it's a sorry excuse for a writer. But, well, I gave this my best shot.  
  
**Disclaimer** [I haven't done this before so I'll do it now] Mutant X is not mine. Seriously.  
  
+read, enjoy, review+  
  
Chapter 9 - The Angelic Sacrifice  
  
"Adam, what are we going to do?" Shalimar asked frantically, as she tried to restrain Jesse, who was struggling wildly on the cot. "What about Emma? We can let her spend the rest of her life in a mental institution."  
  
Brennan was moping the sweat of Emma's face. "I don't understand," he murmured to himself. Then turning to Sheila, he asked, "Why is it you have a different effect on psyonics?"  
  
Sheila licked her lips nervously, and thought of how to explain it. She sighed and spoke slowly, "What I do is I control Emma's mind, to let her think that whatever is happening to her is real. Its like I'm controlling her mind, but Emma's has the ability to do mind control, so its like controlling mind control."  
  
"Controlling mind control?" Adam echoed softly as if to himself. He was leaning against the wall, deep in thought and they all knew he was thinking of a way out for Emma and Jesse.  
  
"Imagine a remote control car," Sheila said, looking at Brennan. She shrugged slightly, "I know it's a crude representation but it'll work. Imagine this little boy playing with the control on the car. That's Emma controlling her mind, but then I came along. I'm this big bully who tries to snatch the controls away from the little boy and in effect, the car goes berserk. It doesn't know who to follow."  
  
Shalimar gasped. "That's what's happening to Emma?"  
  
Sheila nodded uncomfortably. "Emma's confused. She's not sure if what she sees is real. She doesn't give in to whatever she sees."  
  
"Is that-?" Brennan hesitated. "Is that what happened to your dad?"  
  
"Yeah," Sheila replied quietly. "I guess he knew what I did to him, even though I was only six. He kept convincing himself it wasn't real. In that process, the monsters in his head didn't kill him, because he didn't believe them. But in effect, he kept on living, and his mind went insane."  
  
They were all quiet as they thought about the fate of Emma if they didn't do anything.  
  
"What about Jesse?" Shalimar asked sharply. "What happens to him?"  
  
"Slowly, he'll give in to his fears," Sheila answered remorsefully. She stared at her hangs, as she wrung them in despair. "For the other kinds of mutants, they all slowly believe what they see. They believe that their dreams are real and once they believe, there's no way out. And when there's no way out, the monsters in their mind will kill them."  
  
Shalimar whimpered. "So Jesse's gonna die?"  
  
"No!" Adam burst out, fire in his eyes. It was as though he had come up with something. He turned to Sheila. "When you touched Emma and Jesse, what happened?"  
  
And then suddenly-  
  
"Where am I?" Emma murmured, her eyes closed. "Is this a dream?"  
  
"Stop hurting me!" Jesse yelled his voice hoarse. "I can't take it anymore!"  
  
Shalimar squeezed Jesse's hand. "He's giving in."  
  
Sheila looked at both of them, tears in her face. She shook her head, feeling the guilt and the regret, the pain with what she could do. She focused on what Adam asked. "I trap them in their own state of unconscious. That's it. And it's their own mind that kills them."  
  
"How is that?" Brennan asked.  
  
Sheila glanced at him, but then she looked away. "When I trap someone in their unconscious, they meet up with other things on their mind. Like their fears, and that's how they are killed. It's when they give in to the idea that the place they are in is real, that they die."  
  
"So what you're saying is, if we can convince Emma and Jesse that they're only having dreams, then they will wake up?" Shalimar asked, straightening up away from Jesse but still holding his hand.  
  
"That's my guess," Sheila admitted nodding thoughtfully. Her brow furrowed. "But no one can talk to them. I mean, you can't communicate with Emma or Jesse. They're both locked in their own minds and they won't listen to anyone else. I'm not sure how you can convince them."  
  
Adam looked at Sheila. "What you're saying is we need another psyonic?"  
  
"No!" Sheila exclaimed, miserably. "God, I don't know. I've never saved any before, and as much as I want to, I'm not sure how."  
  
"Adam, isn't there any other way?" Brennan asked anxiously.  
  
"This isn't real," Emma began chanting to herself. "This isn't real. Help me, please, anyone?"  
  
Sheila sobbed, covering her face with her hands.  
  
"I can't take it anymore," Jesse gritted.  
  
"No!" Sheila exclaimed, rushing forward towards Jesse. "He's giving in. If he gives in to dying, he will die in real life too. He has to resist."  
  
"Can't you do anything to help him?" Shalimar asked, fear in her eyes. Fear of losing her friends.  
  
Adam spoke, his tone serious. "I think that Sheila can communicate to them, long enough for her to convince them that it's not real. But the consequences could be dangerous. We might risk losing Sheila-"  
  
"You can risk losing me, but you can't risk losing two members of Mutant X," Sheila cried out. "I can do it. I'll try to do it, I just don't know how."  
  
"You just have to tap into their minds," Adam said, his voice strained. "But I can't allow you to do this, Sheila. It's like a suicide mission. You're only seventeen-"  
  
"Adam, I'm only seventeen but I've killed a whole lot of mutants, and five people that I cared for so much, one of which is alive and in a mental institution but my dad is good as dead. My whole life has been nothing but pain, and anger. I need, at least, to do something to redeem myself," Sheila said her voice serious. "And if I die in the process, then-"  
  
"No, we can't risk anything now, Sheila," Adam interrupted shaking his head. "If you die, and both Emma and Jesse won't wake up, there's no other way out for them. I'll try some simple medications first, before-" he paused looking directly at Sheila, "-before we try what you can do."  
  
"But-" Sheila began to argue.  
  
"Don't argue with me, Sheila," Adam warned.  
  
Shalimar walked over to Sheila. "I'm sure we can find another way to Emma and Jesse without risking your life too," she said gently. Sheila smiled weakly at Shalimar and Brennan. Adam was already busily mixing solutions in test tubes, and typing things on the computer.  
  
There's no more time, Sheila thought hysterically, her eyes straying over to where Jesse and Emma were lying, still asleep but with all the violent actions going on in their heads.  
  
"Can I go to the bathroom?" Sheila asked them, wiping an invisible tear in her eye. "I just want to be alone for a while," she added calmly.  
  
"Sure," Brennan answered.  
  
Shalimar smiled at her, and she showed her the way to the bathroom. "We'll be at the lab, okay?"  
  
Sheila smiled and nodded her thanks. She watched as Shalimar walked away, and then she closed the door and locked it. Then she took a deep breath. She had everything planned out. She was going to explain to Emma what was going on, and then leave it to Emma to convince Jesse.  
  
She would try Jesse but she wasn't sure if he would believe her easily. She prayed to her mom, to her angel, and to Billy. And even to Donald, her foster dad, whom she knew had loved her once. She prayed for the strength to help Jesse and Emma.  
  
And she began.  
  
She was looking for Emma, through the screams of all the other mutants whom she had lain this curse of hers. She wanted to help them too, but she had to help Emma. And Sheila did find Emma, trapped in a desolated place. Poor Emma was lying down, in a fetal position, clutching her head and screaming in agony.  
  
"Emma," Sheila called softly. "Listen to me."  
  
Emma looked up. "Where are you?"  
  
"I'm in your mind," Sheila replied hurriedly. "Look, I know you can't see me and you probably won't believe me, but you have too. I'm real. I'm here at the Sanctuary with Adam, Shalimar and Brennan. They want so badly for you to wake up. And I do too. But I need you to believe that this is not real."  
  
"But I've been walking around in circles, there's nowhere else to go," Emma complained.  
  
"Yes there is," Sheila responded. She was slowly growing tired. "Emma, this is all in your head. It was me who did this. Sheila, from the club? I'm a mutant, a psyonic who can trap people in their own subconscious until it slowly destroys them. But you have to resist. You can let yourself be destroyed, otherwise the others will be devastated."  
  
"Jesse? Where is he?" Emma asked, pushing herself to a sitting position.  
  
"In the same place as you. He's trapped in his mind, and he's slowly giving in. He is slowly being destroyed and I need your help to convince him that what he's seeing is not real-"  
  
"I've tried!" Emma cried out, shaking her head furiously.  
  
"Try again, Emma. I know you can do it, and I'll try too. Together we can help him, and the two of you will wake up," Sheila explained. She was gripping the cabinet, as her knees weakened and she slowly dropped to the tiled floor. She squeezed her eyes tight and concentrated. "Emma, promise me you will wake up from this nightmare."  
  
Emma frowned. "So this is all a nightmare?"  
  
"Yes, and when you wake up, you'll find Adam, Shalimar and Brennan, waiting for you at the lab to wake up," Sheila went on. "For you and Jesse to wake up. It's all in your mind."  
  
"What about you? What will happen to you?"  
  
"I'll also be waiting for you," Sheila answered, taking deep shuddering breaths. The effort was weakening her the more. "I'll go to Jesse now, Emma. It's all a dream, and you'll wake up soon. You have to."  
  
Sheila gasped as she let go of Emma. She was on all fours, her arms trembling. She still had to find Jesse, and she did. She found him nearly just in time. He was already to kill himself.  
  
"Jesse, listen to me," Sheila cried out to him.  
  
"You're not real," he said through gritted teeth.  
  
"No, I'm real. Adam, Shalimar and Brennan are waiting for you at the other side-" Sheila began.  
  
"I know. They're dead," Jesse scoffed. "I killed them."  
  
"No!" Sheila insisted. "That's not true, Jesse. They're still alive. All this is only in your mind. This is my doing, because I'm a psyonic who can trap people in their subconscious. I did this to you that night at the bar. When you felt something burn, remember that? Jesse, I need you to stop believing this nightmare so you can get out of this place. And I can release you."  
  
"Yeah right," Jesse muttered angrily. "I'm going to die, whoever you are. Leave me alone."  
  
"Jesse, please. You have friends who are still alive and they need you," Sheila went on, nearly drained of energy. She was crying now. "Emma is still alive too. She's just in the same place as you are but she has stopped believing in this nightmare. And you have too, Jesse, so you will wake up. Jesse, this is all in your head."  
  
"I can't-" Jesse murmured, shaking his head and squeezing his eyes. "I don't-, I don't know."  
  
"Jesse, it's not real. Open your eyes, and wake up," Sheila said in one last attempt. And then Jesse's face dissolved into nothing and she was back in the bathroom. She collapsed onto the floor, breathing deeply.  
  
The sweet smile of the angel was above her again. "You did great, Sheila."  
  
"I did?" Sheila murmured, her eyes half-closed, and sweat matted her hair.  
  
"They'll be okay now," the angel soothed. "And you will be too."  
  
"Can I help two more people?" Sheila asked tired, but still with some strength left.  
  
The angel smiled. "I knew you'd want that."  
  
"Just them, so I could release them too," Sheila murmured as she concentrated again on finding him. It was all over in a few minutes. She sighed deeply, completely drained and tired. The angel was hovering above her, smiling and beckoning to her.  
  
"I'm coming now," Sheila murmured softly and then, her eyes closed. And when she took her last breath, there was a sweet smile on her face, just like the angel. 


	11. Redemption from the Dreamscape

Ensnared in my Reverie  
  
***There's a new mutant in town, and she has the intention of riding the world with mutants. She can be deadly and you won't even know it until you're already dead***  
  
Summary: Mutants have been dying and Adam is worried this might be some kind of epidemic. But he soon finds out how wrong he is, because all these appeared to have good health when they died. Adam is confused how this new mutant kills, and when he finds out exactly how, there is a price to pay. He must find a cure or he will loose two members.  
  
Read and review!!!  
  
***[My last] NOTE*** Well here we are folks, the end of the road. =) I'm watching Taken [Star Movies] Haha, and just as my sister said, I can't do two things at the same time. And it's a good thing I finished this story hours ago. I'm just editing now. =) Ooh, watched the first episode of the second season of Mutant X [time squared] Too bad, there were no Jesse/Emma stuff. Rarr. Oh well, I'll just do a sequel. And this one, it's all about looooooove. =) Hehe. Need I say who? Well, all right. Jesse and Emma, of course. And maybe a little Brennan and Shalimar. And maybe I'll find someone for Adam, or not.  
  
***I hope I satisfied all your expectations for this story even if I sort of, sped things up because I didn't want to keep you waiting. But, basically, everything is in here. The basics. There was a dream, who created this dreamscape, and now? Well, read on and find out! =) Thanks you all! Even just one simple review encouraged me a WHOLE lot! Ask my sisters. I was seriously bragging and jumping with joy because people liked my writing. =) Thanks again, and hope to see you next time! [hehe.okay, I'm being overly dramatic here].  
  
**Disclaimer** [I haven't done this before so I'll do it now] Mutant X is not mine. Seriously.  
  
+read, enjoy, review+  
  
Chapter 10 - Redemption from the Dreamscape  
  
Back at the lab, Brennan noticed something different as he peered down at Emma's monitor. "Adam, come take a look at this," he called and Adam rushed over. "Her breathing's regular, and her pulse rate is normal too," he observed. He looked at Adam.  
  
"It's the same with Jesse," Shalimar added.  
  
Adam looked worried.  
  
"Wait, Adam," Brennan began. "That's good right?"  
  
Adam nodded slowly, and spoke quietly, "It is. It must means that they're not having all those nightmares, anymore. I think this has something to do with-" he paused as he looked around the lab. "Where's Sheila?" Adam asked immediately.  
  
"Bathroom," Shalimar replied nonchalantly. "She wanted some time alone," she added as an explanation but when she saw the look in Adam's face, she started to shake her head. "Adam, no, that's-"  
  
Brennan frowned slightly. "What, you think Sheila did this?"  
  
"It's the type of thing Sheila would do," Adam said as he rushed out the lab, followed by Shalimar and Brennan. When Adam tried the door, he realized the door was locked. "Brennan!"  
  
Brennan snapped his fingers and he issued a spark of electricity to the lock, and it gave way. Adam pushed open the door. "No!" he cried in anguish as he saw Sheila's limp body on the tiled floor. He felt for her pulse, and his shoulders sagged. "She's gone."  
  
Shalimar clamped her hands to her mouth as she began sobbing. Brennan placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, and she turned to him, sobbing in his chest.  
  
"She shouldn't have," Adam murmured, cradling Sheila in his arms.  
  
"She was so young," Shalimar whispered shaking her head.  
  
They all remained there, staring at the sweet smile on Sheila's face, thinking of everything that she went through as a child, and as she grew up. And thinking of what she had sacrificed to save the lives of two of their friends. It was enough.  
  
Adam carried her to the lab, where he laid her on a cot, and covered her in a white blanket. He wished that there were something he could've done to save both Sheila, and also his team members. But he knew in his heart, that no matter what he did, Sheila would still have sacrificed herself. She was in too much pain.  
  
He turned to Emma and Jesse, watching and waiting.  
  
Jesse stirred, and they all rushed forward to him. "Jesse?" Shalimar cried out, tears in her eyes but this time, tears of joy. "Jesse? Can you hear me?"  
  
"Shal?" he murmured hoarsely. And then his eyes opened, and blinked several times to adjust to the bright light. He looked up at all of them, and asked, "What happened?"  
  
"We nearly lost you, buddy," Brennan joked lightly.  
  
Jesse rubbed his eyes, as though he was only waking up from sleeping so long. "Yeah?"  
  
"Oh yeah," Shalimar responded, stroking Jesse's head. "You scared me half to death, all the times you were screaming," she murmured more to herself, than to him.  
  
Jesse sat up, looking restless. "In my dream, I lost all of you."  
  
"It's all right, Jesse. We're all okay," Adam said, smiling. "Welcome back."  
  
And then, seeing Emma, Jesse stood up from the bed, and slowly walked toward her. "Emma," Jesse whispered softly. "Will she be okay, Adam?"  
  
"She'll wake up, Jesse," Adam said assuringly.  
  
"She convinced me that it was all a really bad nightmare," Jesse explained, looking at Emma's serene face. He was thankful that she was alive, that she was okay unlike what he had been made to believe in his dream. He reached up, and gently caressed her face.  
  
Emma's eyes fluttered open. "Jesse!" she exclaimed, her eyes growing wide. "Where are we?"  
  
"Back at the Sanctuary," Adam replied for him. "How are you doing, Emma?"  
  
Emma pushed herself to a sitting position, with Jesse's help. She smiled at all of them. "Wow, this is really real, right?" she asked uncertainly. "And I'm so glad to finally see something."  
  
"What do you mean?" Brennan inquired, raising his eyebrows.  
  
Emma waved her hand dismissively. "It's just that in my mind, when I woke up, I was trapped in this place where there was nothing. You know, just nothing and more nothingness, and I was so terrified that I'd spend the rest of my life in that black hole," she spoke timidly.  
  
"Hey, it's all over now," Shalimar soothed, as she reached over to squeeze Emma's hand.  
  
"Yeah we're awake now," Jesse added smiling.  
  
Emma laughed lightly. "I don't think I'm going to sleep for the next month," she said, placing a hand on her head. "If it wasn't for-" she paused, and the smile in her face vanished as she looked around the lab. "Where's Sheila?"  
  
Jesse looked around too. "Yeah, we owe her so much."  
  
Brennan and Shalimar both looked awkward. Adam bowed his head slightly, his hands in his pockets.  
  
"What's going on?" Jesse asked, looking at each of them.  
  
"Adam?" Emma prodded, worry all over her face.  
  
"Jesse, Emma," Adam began, his voice tight with emotion. "What Sheila did, when she communicated with you in your minds, she wasn't supposed to do that. I knew it would drain her of all her energy-"  
  
"You don't mean-" Emma interrupted, her eyes brimming with tears.  
  
"Adam, she can't be, you-, what you're saying is that-" Jesse stammered. "She's dead?" he asked, his voice dropping so low that it was barely audible.  
  
Adam nodded.  
  
"Can't you save her, Adam?" Emma asked hysterically as she fervently shook her head. "Can't I do anything to save her?" she asked the other question in a tiny whisper. Sheila had save her life, and she never had the chance to even thank her.  
  
"I guess that's the way it is, Emma," Adam replied resigned. "It's what she wanted to do. She felt so bad for what she had done all those years, that doing this was what saved her. I'm sure she died happy knowing in her heart that the two of you would wake up. That's all she asked."  
  
A few days later after Sheila's death, Adam was able to find Helen Benton, Sheila's foster mother. He met up with her and told her the whole story of what happened. She came to the Sanctuary, along with Cooper Reeves to claim Sheila's body. By some miracle, he too was also released from the dreamscape.  
  
"It was because of her," Cooper had said, smiling sadly. "She helped me, but I never knew that she'd die in the process of helping me."  
  
"That was all she wanted," Helen murmured soothingly. "To help you."  
  
A day after Sheila's death, Landon Compton was also released from the dreamscape. He became sane again, and the doctors at the institution found his recovery most miraculous. For years, he had been locked in a world none of them could understand and then suddenly, he was released from it.  
  
Landon came to Adam, to learn the story of Sheila, his only daughter. A week after Sheila's death, he died too, and ironically, he died in his sleep. But he died peacefully, and not because of monsters in his mind. The Comptons were buried beside each other, along with Billy and Donald Benton.  
  
Four people, whom Sheila had learned to love and to care for, even at the cost of living a life of pain because of what she had. Emma, Jesse and Cooper owed their lives to Sheila. They were forever in her debt.  
  
It was a miracle how one life was sacrificed and three lives were redeemed.  
  
And it all happened in their minds, while they were ensnared in their reveries.  
  
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ The End ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤  
  
Good night, pleasant dreams. ¤(- . -)¤ 


End file.
